Hospital helpers: Auxiliary reaches out to support students and fill needs for Santiam Memorial

By Mary Owen

“It’s amazing how talented some are,” said Mary Duncan, auxiliary treasurer and gift shop manager.

“It’s going to be hard to figure out how to divide the funds amongst the applicants.”

To raise money for their scholarship fund, auxiliary members host a number of fundraisers throughout the year. The most recent – and perhaps the most popular – was the pre-Easter tulip sale.

This year, the auxiliary sold 55 boxes of tulips from Wooden Shoe in Woodburn at $5 a bunch, clearing more than $3,000, almost half of the $7,000 raised this year for scholarships.

“Everyone is so enthusiastic about it,” said Duncan. “Some of the buyers are the doctors and nurses here at the hospital.”

This year’s pool of scholarship applicants includes four Regis High School seniors, three from Cascade, four from Stayton and one from Scio as well as five returning college students and a local emergency medical technician who hopes to become a nurse. Their interests include: pharmacy, dietetics, anesthesiology, dentistry, nursing and physical therapy.

After facing a four-member interview panel, those selected will receive between $500 and $1,000, which will be sent directly to their chosen accredited medical program, said Margie Forrest, who oversees the scholarship program.

“For a small group, we’ve become very active in fundraising,” said Char Bartosz, auxiliary president and former x-ray technician at Santiam Memorial.

Bartosz commends local quilt-maker Mary Klampe for her giving to auxiliary-supported causes. Klampe has donated more than 300 quilts for the group’s gift shop, located in the lobby of the hospital.

According to Bartosz, about a dozen of the 40 active auxiliary members work to raise funds via the tulip sale, selling boxes of See’s chocolates for Valentine’s Day and poinsettias for Christmas.

The next big fundraiser will be an all-you-can-eat breakfast during the Sublimity Harvest Festival in September, she added.

“Our doctors and nurses volunteer, and our dieticians cook the breakfast,” said Forrest, who began her career at Santiam Memorial as a nightime admissions clerk in 1954 and moved to medical records.

“They all give back to the hospital they love.”

“And every year it gets a little better,” said Duncan of the breakfast that takes place at the Sublimity Fire Hall. “Word gets around.”

Scholarships are not the only contributions given by the auxiliary from the funds raised from the gift shop and yearly events.

Money has been spent on DVD players for patients to watch movies, hospital equipment, wheelchairs, kitchen supplies and a computer for the nurses’ station.

“We recently donated to the Haiti fund,” said Duncan. A group of Santiam Memorial employees traveled to the earthquake-torn country recently to provide medical assistance.

“I’m proud of the doctors and employees who donate their time and money to go to Haiti,” Bartosz said.

“They plan to go back again in June.”

The auxiliary is poised to help, and members are always looking for fresh ideas on how to raise money, she added.

“Donations can always be made to the auxiliary directly to the hospital,” she said.